The corner of Prentice and Shrewsbury streets is not a spot where one would expect to get held up and robbed, at least not around 3 p.m. on a bright fall day.

Yet, it was exactly where scores of drivers, including myself, were socked with $200 fines for failure to stop for a guy who appeared to be recklessly stepping in the path of our cars.

The Police Department will tell you otherwise. It will tell you that guy was a plainclothes police officer involved in one of the department's crosswalk sting operations, "Operation Cross Safe."

According to Police Chief Gary Gemme, the operation, which has been ongoing for a number of years, has netted more than 6,000 citations during that period.

"The department does not sanction officers recklessly putting themselves in the path of the moving car," Chief Gemme said, noting that one of the top priorities for those involved in the operation "is the safety of the officers, pedestrians, and drivers."

"The officers participating in these operations are advised to enter the roadway via the crosswalk where there is a reasonable expectation that the motor vehicle operator will observe them and yield to them as required by law."

Few people would disagree with the Police Department on the merits of enforcing crosswalk etiquette, which rests on the general rule that pedestrians always have the right of way and, in this particular case, if a pedestrian is in a legal crosswalk, motorists by law must yield to them.

Indeed, under the law both drivers and pedestrians are required to exercise good judgment on our roads and highways. A pedestrian cannot, for example, act like a jaywalker, that is, he or she cannot cross a street illegally or in a reckless manner.

Yet the latter was just what it appeared the plainclothes police officer in Monday's sting operation was doing.

In my case, I was almost upon the crosswalk when he suddenly stepped in the path of my car. I applied my brakes, and he stepped back. I was already in the crosswalk by then, so I continued through, only to be pulled over and handed a $200 ticket.

With so many cars being pulled over, it took about 15 minutes or more to process my ticket, which gave me some time to watch the operation in progress. During that period, there were several other cars caught in the sting by the same officer going back and forth across the street. Strangely, not one regular pedestrian used the crossing during that time. I suppose it isn't one of the busiest crosswalks in the city, which raises the question of why the sting was mounted there.

According to Chief Gemme, 560 pedestrians have been struck by motor vehicles in the city since January 2012. If true, that is an alarming number, and thus would warrant the department's enforcement efforts.

But there is a big difference between a real motor vehicle violation and one that is manufactured. The sting operation was a manufactured event. Absent this event, scores of motorists would not have gone home Monday evening with $200 fines. They would not be facing a possible two points added to their insurance coverage, and they would not be considering whether to pay $300 to fight their ticket.

It is essential, then, that in such an operation the police officers create as realistic a scenario as possible. A police officer stepping into the path of a moving car that is about to pass through a crosswalk is not being "reasonable." He is acting recklessly. And if the shoe were on the other foot, he would be charged with jaywalking.

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